


Desperate Times

by Anonymous



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Manipulation, Minor Injuries, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 19:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13794849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: When everyone leaves or lies to him, Martin is open for desperate measures.





	Desperate Times

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this last week, but then I saw that Kalael has written something similar.  
> I still wanted to post it, but please know that I did not copy your story premise on purpose.

Martin was all alone in the office, organising statements to record, when there was a strange tickling at the back of his neck. He was being watched. Not that this was unusual here, this sensation had crept in more and more recently, but this time it became so strong it made him shiver.

  
He was alone, he knew that. John was still gone, and a few days ago, even Tim had left him. At work one day, and gone the next. No note, no message when he would be back. It was worse since Martin couldn’t even blame him. Sure, this was one of the most selfish things Tim had ever done, but damn him if he didn’t get it.  
Well, Melanie must be around somewhere, but he barely saw here during work.

  
He looked up from the files and noticed a figure in the room. A tall man with long blond hair was standing next to a pale yellow door on the far side of John’s office.

  
“How did you... I’m sorry, can I help you?”

  
The man didn’t speak or move, keeping his dark eyes fixed on Martin. The intensity of the glare stirred something inside him, a reflex to run, but the man’s smile pushed him to stay polite. He stood up and walked around the desk, hoping this approach would be interpreted as friendly, although he knew that someone like him wouldn’t look intimidating to a mouse.

  
“Are you looking for John? He’s uhm, not available at the moment.”

  
The man shook his head, his blond curls swaying slightly with the motion. When he did speak it was slow, every word chosen with deliberation. “I know that the Archivist has not been here for many weeks.” He was closer now, although Martin couldn’t remember him moving at all. “No, I’m here for you, Martin Blackwood.”

  
Martin’s voice hitched, and a high-pitched squeak came out. “For me?”

  
The man’s otherwise gentle face pulled into a grimace, showing of his sharp teeth in a too wide grin, only for a fraction of a second before it looked normal again. Martin shook his head, trying to throw off this suggestion. Must have been a trick of the light.

  
“Yes, just for you.” The man was now right in front of him, his thin form towering over Martin, leaning down into his space. “If you come with me, I will take you to the Archivist.”

  
“Really? You know where Jon is?” Martin’s eyes lit up, making the man chuckle.

  
“I know where he is, yes. And I know something else: that he will come if he knows that you are with me.”

  
“Really? Let me just get –“, he was cut off by the sound of the door flying open, revealing a heavily breathing Elias, a strand of his perfectly slicked back hair dangling loose over his forehead.

  
“Spiral. Get. Out.”

  
A mocking, hollow laugh echoed in the small office. Before Martin could register what happened, the man was behind him, an arm around his throat, and his hard, angular body pressing against his back. It felt wrong, not like flesh, but not like plastic either. A solid and yet ever-shifting mass like coiled snakes.  
Realisation hit him. This man wasn’t human.

  
Martin tried to wriggle free, but stopped when a sharp edge started to press into the soft skin just above his collarbone. The man, no, the thing holding him leaned down to his ear, causing his hair to fall against Martin’s neck. It was soft, but tickled with static, like plastic imitation hair on cheap dolls. The body behind him was also completely odourless, no familiar human smells clinging to the skin or hair.

  
“He left you here”, he whispered. “Left you without protection. I can just come in whenever I please and take you... make you mine.”

  
Martin swallowed hard against the pressure on his throat, no longer able to breath without opening his mouth. He wanted to speak, wanted to ask what exactly he was supposed to do, but every thought was spent on the writhing mass surrounding him.

  
“Spiral, aren’t you forgetting something?” Elias spoke slowly, his dishevelled appearance gone, replaced in mere moments by his usual flawless mask. “I’m still here.”

  
Another hollow laugh came from behind him, loud and high, and Martin felt the blood rushing in his ears, and the heaving of the man’s ribcage against him, hard edges digging into his shoulder blades.

  
“You have no power over me.”

  
Elias scoffed, and despite his current situation, Martin couldn’t help but feel a pang of satisfaction at seeing his self-important boss dismissed like this. A small smile crept on his face, and he felt strangely connected to the being behind him. He seemed to know as much about recent events as Elias, and he said he could take him to Jon. Since he seemed inclined to share this knowledge with him, Martin had to take this chance. Instinctively, he leaned closer into the body behind him.

  
“I will leave”, he said, the hand not currently around his neck drifted softly down Martin’s arm, the gentle touch offering a stark contrast to the sharp threat around his throat. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper that sent a shiver up Martin’s spine. “It seems that you are more important that he will admit, Martin Blackwood. I will be sure to come back for you.”

  
Martin felt a sharp pain when the man pulled his arm away. With panic he lifted his hand to the cut, a shallow scratch that luckily seeped just a few droops of blood. When he looked up again, he and Elias were alone. And while he didn’t see him go through it, he somehow knew that the man had left through the door on the far side of the room. Without a second thought, Martin stormed towards it, when Elias’ stern voice commanded him to stop. Martin wasn’t sure what he had intended by running. Stop him from leaving? Or follow him?

  
“Don’t. Don’t go through it. Don’t even touch it. It should vanish soon, but if it does stay, put up a sign.”

  
“Vanish? How can a door vanish? And who was he?”

  
“It, Martin. It’s not a man.” He sounded impatient. “What room is behind this door?”

  
Martin opened his mouth to answer but could only mumble a few broken syllables.  
“Exactly. I know he hid it, but go and find statement #0151002 and listen to John’s recording. That should help clear this up."

  
By the time Elias left, Martin still hadn’t decided whether the last thing the man, no, the creature said had been a threat or a promise.

  
He was more important than he thought, and Elias was lying to him. And while the first one was news, the latter was not exactly something he didn’t suspect already. After all, if outright lies didn’t mark their conversations, then at least dismissal and ignorance did.

  
Even before he found John’s tape, he had made up his mind about the Spiral. Martin would wait for its return.  



End file.
